Even with the semester break looming right around the corner, Jack and I decided to take advantage of a long weekend and head east to a small province near Laos. We were planning to take a bus right from Lampang, but the seats were booked by the time we got to the station (quite a rarity!) Instead we hopped on a minibus (read: van) to Phrae and another to Nan.
The secret to minibus-riding is being stocked up on motion sickness medicine and avoiding watching the driver. The curvy mountain roads are not conducive to passing other drivers and, although the lane lines prohibited such dangerous behavior, our driver wouldn’t heed the painted suggestions. Instead he seemed to enjoy spiting them by spending time leisurely in the oncoming traffic’s lane. So, just stop watching. Ok? Ok.
We made it safely to Nan and hopped in a songtaew to our hotel Srinual Lodge. This place turned out to be clean and charming, and we were blown away that it’s available for about $100 a month.
We were pretty spent after the long day and decided to save our exploration for the following day. I’ve been itching for an American breakfast (specifically, fresh bread) so we headed to the downtown area to find a farang-friendly café called Hot Bread. Um, yes, that will be perfect, thank you. It was so adorable, I could imagine just picking it up and placing right in the Willy Street area of Madison. Over the next few days, we spent three or four meals here and enjoyed getting to know the very sweet owner Usa and her sister.
Drunk on amazing breakfast, we made our way to the neighboring Wat Phumin, the most revered temple in Nan. We’ve been to many temples here already, so it’s always nice to see one with really interesting and unique characteristics. This one looks like it’s carried on the backs of two giant Naga, or serpents.
The Buddha image above, in the center of the temple, face 4 directions as protection for the whole town. The walls are decorated with a 19th-century mural, telling the story of the past lives of Buddha, daily life in Lanna at that time, the arrival of the French, and (our favorite) scenes from hell.
Even the temple has a spirit house! The additional pictures are maybe of a famous monk, I’m not entirely sure.
After the few instances of Buddhist hell we’ve seen (here and here), we have become somewhat intrigued by seeking out more.
Moving on to a lighter subject, Usa let us know that this weekend would be the yearly boat races that put Nan on the map (coincidental planning FTW). So we headed down to the river, where it seemed most of the town was celebrating.
As with any Thai celebration, there was tons of food and music. People were competing for microphone time and entire sections were cheering on their boating team. It was not unlike an American sporting event (complete with funny costumes).
As it turns out, this weekend was also the middle of Buddhist lent. During the three-month period of lent, the monks are to remain in monasteries and on temple grounds. Nan’s celebration included a parade, and many people purchased baskets of food and necessities to gift the monks.
Nan has turned out to be one of our favorite places in Thailand. It wasn’t just the beautiful temple and friendly people, but the feel of the city is more mellow even than Lampang. Since it is so far from tourist traps and must-see cities, it is often overlooked by backpackers. Even in the very short time we were here, we could see ourselves living here.
The secret to minibus-riding is being stocked up on motion sickness medicine and avoiding watching the driver. The curvy mountain roads are not conducive to passing other drivers and, although the lane lines prohibited such dangerous behavior, our driver wouldn’t heed the painted suggestions. Instead he seemed to enjoy spiting them by spending time leisurely in the oncoming traffic’s lane. So, just stop watching. Ok? Ok.
We made it safely to Nan and hopped in a songtaew to our hotel Srinual Lodge. This place turned out to be clean and charming, and we were blown away that it’s available for about $100 a month.
We were pretty spent after the long day and decided to save our exploration for the following day. I’ve been itching for an American breakfast (specifically, fresh bread) so we headed to the downtown area to find a farang-friendly café called Hot Bread. Um, yes, that will be perfect, thank you. It was so adorable, I could imagine just picking it up and placing right in the Willy Street area of Madison. Over the next few days, we spent three or four meals here and enjoyed getting to know the very sweet owner Usa and her sister.
Drunk on amazing breakfast, we made our way to the neighboring Wat Phumin, the most revered temple in Nan. We’ve been to many temples here already, so it’s always nice to see one with really interesting and unique characteristics. This one looks like it’s carried on the backs of two giant Naga, or serpents.
The Buddha image above, in the center of the temple, face 4 directions as protection for the whole town. The walls are decorated with a 19th-century mural, telling the story of the past lives of Buddha, daily life in Lanna at that time, the arrival of the French, and (our favorite) scenes from hell.
Even the temple has a spirit house! The additional pictures are maybe of a famous monk, I’m not entirely sure.
After the few instances of Buddhist hell we’ve seen (here and here), we have become somewhat intrigued by seeking out more.
Moving on to a lighter subject, Usa let us know that this weekend would be the yearly boat races that put Nan on the map (coincidental planning FTW). So we headed down to the river, where it seemed most of the town was celebrating.
As with any Thai celebration, there was tons of food and music. People were competing for microphone time and entire sections were cheering on their boating team. It was not unlike an American sporting event (complete with funny costumes).
As it turns out, this weekend was also the middle of Buddhist lent. During the three-month period of lent, the monks are to remain in monasteries and on temple grounds. Nan’s celebration included a parade, and many people purchased baskets of food and necessities to gift the monks.
Nan has turned out to be one of our favorite places in Thailand. It wasn’t just the beautiful temple and friendly people, but the feel of the city is more mellow even than Lampang. Since it is so far from tourist traps and must-see cities, it is often overlooked by backpackers. Even in the very short time we were here, we could see ourselves living here.
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